Some of Wales’ most popular museums will be closed this weekend as staff walk out in a dispute over pay.

The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, the National Slate Museum in Llanberis and the National Wool Museum in Dre-fach Felindre will all be shut to visitors on Saturday, August 1.

Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon will be closed on Saturday and Sunday as members of the Public and Commercial Services Union go on strike in a protest over plans to scrap allowances paid to staff who work weekends and Bank Holidays.

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A spokesman for the museum said: “We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will limit disruption to our visitors and services as far as possible, and would advise those travelling to our sites to check our website for further information before doing so.”

Staff 'should not face such a big hit'

PCS says 80% of its balloted members voted to take strike action in protest at the plans to get rid of the so-called premium payments, which the union argues makes up as much as 15% of some employees’ take-home pay.

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“We will continue to do all we can to reach an agreement with PCS, as has been achieved with Prospect Union,” the spokesman added.

Staff have been given 4% pay rise since 2011

“Our proposal, which takes into account the interest of staff at all levels, includes increasing the basic pay of our lowest paid staff by 4% during the next financial year.

“This is in addition to the 4% increase those staff members have received since 2011.

“In an attempt to protect our staff as much as possible, we are also committed to introducing the Living Wage of £7.85 an hour, offering compensatory payments worth two years of allowances, which on average is £3,600 per person, and protect the pensions of those affected by the changes for the next five years.

“We believe this will mitigate the impact of losing Premium Payments, which are no longer paid by most other national museums.

“We have suffered a reduction of over 20% in our revenue budget over the last four years, and following the most recent announcement from the Westminster Government, things are not likely to get any easier in the near future.”